On the Brink With Charges of 'Chicken'

By

Ben Zimmer

Oct. 11, 2013 8:01 p.m. ET

Capitol Hill's shutdown showdown has attracted its share of well-worn metaphors. A common cliché heard from media pundits is that Republicans and Democrats are engaged in a high-stakes "game of chicken." That evokes images of the perilous scene in "Rebel Without a Cause," in which teenagers race stolen cars toward the edge of a cliff, with the first driver to jump out branded a "chicken."

Calling someone a "chicken" to deride their cowardice goes back for centuries before James Dean, in fact. A character in Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" angrily refers to those fleeing a battle as "chickens."

But aside from labeling a weak-willed person "chicken-hearted," the cowardly meaning of "chicken" remained a little-known literary usage until the 20th century, when the term found new life in American slang. In a 1936 slang glossary compiled at the agricultural college that would become South Dakota State University, "chicken" was defined as "a timid soul; a sissy."

Five years later, "chicken" made a cameo as an adjective in the slang-filled movie "Ball of Fire." Mob boss Joe Lilac says of the showgirl Sugarpuss O'Shea, memorably played by Barbara Stanwyck, "she's all right giving out with the twists and the wisecracks, but when it comes to leveling off, she gets chicken."

It wasn't until after World War II, though, when the hot-rod subculture took root in southern California, that "chicken" became popularized for hazardous automotive games. The first public exposure came in the Nov. 7, 1949 issue of Life magazine, in a photo feature under the alarming headline, "The 'Hot-Rod' Problem: Teen-Agers Organize to Experiment with Mechanized Suicide."

One photo shows a re-enactment of a game of "chicken" involving six Los Angeles teenagers in one car. The driver speeds to 60 or 70 miles an hour before taking his hand off the wheel. "The first person who loses his nerve and grabs the wheel or touches the brake is 'chicken'..." A second photo involves two cars. "As vehicles approach," the magazine explained, "each driver keeps his left front wheel on the white center stripe in road. One who finally decides to pull over is, of course, 'chicken.'"

By 1959, the British philosopher Bertrand Russell used playing "chicken" as a metaphor for the nuclear brinkmanship of the Cold War. "The moment will come when neither side can face the derisive cry of 'Chicken!' from the other side," Russell warned. "When that moment is come, the statesmen of both sides will plunge the world into destruction." Since then, the game of "chicken" has been perennially invoked to deplore the foolishness of escalating threats, especially among fierce political rivals who are reluctant to chicken out.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.